Winging it: Sculptor creates amazing feather art

These ethereal sculptures have come a
long way from the "flying rats" whose feathers have made
them. Kate MccGwire is
an installation artist for whom the natural debris around her
houseboat studio proved endlessly inspiring.

These pieces consist of tens of thousands of natural, undyed
feathers gathered mainly from pigeons, but also
mallards and crows, which have been meticulously sculpted to appear
as if they are invading domestic spaces. In 2010, MccGuire created
a piece in the kitchen ovens of National Trust property Tatton Park
in Cheshire (see Evacuate, in our gallery) from the
feathers of locally sourced game birds.

It's not just rural idylls that provide MccGwire with her
materials, however. Her Dutch Barge studio, moored on an island in
the Thames, is located near a number of sheds that house feral
pigeons -- putting her in a perfect position to capture their
moulted feathers. Although MccGwire had a collection in the lower
hundreds within a few months, she would need many more for her
installations. The help lay in racing enthusiasts and pigeon racing
clubs around the country, with whom she still keeps in
contact.

As MccGwire says in an interview with Wired.co.uk: "I still
source many of my feathers from [them]. The support of this network
of individuals has been invaluable in relation to my work, and I
have built great relationships based on mutual respect and
understanding. As the birds only naturally shed their feathers
around April and October the amount needed for large-scale piece of
work may need to be collected over a period of years. Due to this
kind of timescale I find that once a piece is finally complete the
bird enthusiasts are as excited and relieved as I am."

After gathering the feathers, MccGwire begins an "awfully
laborious process involving industrial freezers and hundreds of
boxes which all need to be sorted into species, colour, size and
shape. I do find the routine oddly comforting though, there's the
collection phase, the chaotic feather activity in the studio and
then the calm of the final work. Secretly it's pandemonium even
though it looks very methodical."

While beautiful, MccGwire explains the slightly creepy aspect of
these natural pieces: "A feather has mythology of its own; some
people might hate birds, or be attracted to something, but either
way the material has a whole bank of associations ready for
subversion."

MccGwire is exhibiting a new work, House of Beasts,
throughout the estate of National Trust property Attingham Park,
Shropshire, from July this year. Until then, you can enjoy her work
in our gallery.